An entity is defined as something that is discrete and unique, such as an individual object, person, datum, or measurement. Additionally, an entity typically has several attributes which defines its profile. Further, each entity may exhibit different characteristics based on how it is sensed by an external observer, such as by a sensor, a human being, an animate object or other external sensing system. An observation by an observer or a sensor of an entity is recorded as the entity profile of the entity. Numerous entity profiles of a single entity based on the sensed attributes of the entity may be generated by different external observers or sensors. External observers or sensors act as sources as entity profiles.
Given the large number of entities and observers, a substantial amount of profile data and other information is created. Unfortunately, the task of identifying which of these entity profiles pertain to a particular entity and linking those profiles currently is a complex and time-consuming exercise.